by Marah Bengel

Sixteen Atlantic High School and middle school Student Council members had a chance to attend the 34th annual Iowa Student Leadership Conference last weekend.

The conference, held on Oct. 26 and 27 in Des Moines, Iowa, is strictly for Student Council members and their sponsors.

Senior Taylor Berns said, “The State Student Council Leadership conference is a conference that is held annually in Des Moines at the Hy-Vee Hall. Student Councils from all over the state of Iowa come together to learn more about leadership and how to improve their councils.“

On Sunday, Oct. 26, between 7 and 9 p.m., the students listened to a speaker from the ISU Dance Team Marathon. Berns said earlier that Sunday afternoon they “went over to West Des Moines and did some shopping.” “All morning and afternoon on Monday, we listened to a speaker and then broke off into smaller groups.”

The Student Council students had the opportunity to go to three different 30-minute sessions on different topics such as fundraisers and ways to increase school spirit.

The Student Council members stayed at the Quality Inn next to the Wells Fargo Arena, located in downtown Des Moines. Berns said, “We were responsible for paying for a portion of the hotel ($15,) and the rest of it was covered by our Student Council funds. We were also responsible for paying for our meals, but we ate at the food court in the mall so it wasn’t too expensive. We were all able to get what we wanted.”

This was Berns’s third year participating in this conference.  She said, “I would definitely recommend to underclassmen to get involved with Student Council. It’s a fun way to be involved with our school and the things that Student Council helps put on, such as our school dances, the Color Run, and Homecoming. I had a great time at this conference and made memories with some of my fellow senior classmates. One of my favorite things was that we all were able to hang out together Sunday night and bond with each other. We even ordered pizza at 10:45 at night.”

AHS students were not only participants at the conference, but also presenters themselves. Junior Laeni Pelzer said, “We presented instead of going to seminars.  We were asked to give a presentation about last year’s Homecoming, and our success with it being a ‘Heroes Homecoming’ theme.  It was an honor to be asked to present.”

The Atlantic High School students thought it was fun and definitely different from previous years they attended the leadership conference.